The present invention relates to a device which permits a footwear to be coupled with a sports equipment in order to perform a sports practice and has such a structure to allow the footwear to be released from the equipment after use.
The present invention relates, more specifically but not exclusively, to a device of the type indicated above for use in particular and advantageously for coupling an item of footwear on a snow-board.
Clearly, however, although specific reference is made to this use by way of example in the present description, the device of the invention may also be used for other sports equipment or products such as, for example, a ski, a roller skate, particularly an in-line roller skate, or a bicycle pedal.
A known construction, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,322, is a binding device comprising a first body fixed to the sole of the footwear and having a set of shaped protrusions on its visible face and a second body fixed to the to a sports equipment, in particular a snowboard, and having a set of holes the arrangement and number of which are the same as those of the protrusions and into which the protrusions can extend. In order to ensure a lock of the protrusions when inserted into the holes a mechanism is foreseen which is of a rather complex construction, not so easy to handle by the user and expensive to produce.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a binding device the structure of which is such as to enable the footwear to be coupled to the sports equipment securely and easily even when extreme forces are exerted on the device during a sports practice, and which can be used for footwear with various types of construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a binding device which is of a simple construction and particularly easy to use.
Not the least object is provide a binding device which can be produced at low cost with the use of known machines, tooling and techniques and thus to afford the industrialized production of the various elements.
These objects are achieved by the provision of a binding device composed of two bodies fixed to the footwear and to the sports equipment (for example a snowboard), respectively, and of an intermediate element interposed between the first two.
The first body is fixed to the sole of the footwear and may be made of metal such as steel or an alloy, or of plastics material, generally nylon, pebax, polyurethane, etc. The body has a base for bearing on the sole; the base may be of any shape, for example, circular, and has one or more protrusions, formed by the body itself, on the opposite side to that which bears against the sole. The body is fixed to the sole by known means of any type such as, for example, a system of one or more screws or rivets, or may be directly incorporated in the sole itself
The protrusions may be of any shape but, for simplicity of explanation, reference will be made to a hemispherical shape. Moreover, each protrusion has a rounded end portion and a groove of a given depth is provided on the whole or on a portion of its periphery. A shoulder of the same material as the first body and formed directly thereby may also advantageously be provided on the same side of the first body as the protrusions.
The second body is of the same shape as the first body and, in this embodiment, is circular, is formed of the same material as the first body, and is completely closed to prevent infiltration of snow or the like so as to avoid damage and anomalous operation thereof. One face of the second body is fixed to the sports equipment (for example a snowboard) by the same system as the first body, namely by means of screws or rivets. The second face has one or more holes or slots for housing the corresponding protrusions present on the first body.
The innovative concept upon which the present invention is based, as specified below, consists of the fact that the coupling between the footwear and the sports equipment is achieved simply by the effect of the pressure exerted by the user when he wishes to insert the protuberances or protrusions of the first body of the binding device into the holes of the second body and into the holes of the intermediate element.
In the condition prior to this insertion, the holes of the second body, and hence of the intermediate element, are out of alignment with one another and, by virtue of a particularly flared shape of the holes of the intermediate element, the pressing action performed by the user leads to a rotation of the intermediate element and to an alignment of the holes allowing the protrusions to be inserted fully.
Upon completion of this operation, the resilient means interposed between the second body and the intermediate element re-establish the initial relative positions of the two sets of holes which are thus out of alignment again. In particular, the holes of one set become engaged in respective peripheral recesses or grooves of the protrusions, bringing about locking thereof.
A reverse sequence of steps is performed when the device is to be released, which is easily achieved by temporarily aligning the holes concerned so as to release the protrusions.